Waitrose's latest smart cart news has us asking: are smart carts worth the massive investment? This brutally honest take breaks down why the smart cart hype might be misplaced.
🛒 Why Smart Carts Might Be Overhyped:
Expensive infrastructure with uncertain long-term viability
Limited use cases: retail media and real-time budget tracking
Do you really need a full Instacart/Caper cart for basic functions?
Customer acclimation challenges (similar to European scan-and-go struggles)
Staff burden of teaching customers new technology
Questionable ROI on massive technology investments
The Better Alternative:
Focus spending on proven technologies that help store employees without requiring customer interaction or training. Sometimes the simplest solutions deliver the biggest impact.
This analysis challenges the smart cart narrative and questions whether retailers are solving real problems or just chasing shiny tech objects.
:
#SmartCarts #RetailTech #GroceryTechnology #WaitroseNews #RetailInnovation #GroceryShopping #RetailMedia #ScanAndGo #GroceryAutomation #RetailROI #GroceryStores #RetailStrategy #TechInvestment #CustomerExperience #RetailEfficiency
